Good Morning. It's Thursday 3rd October, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Extent of Gruev's injury set to be revealedWe will learn the extent of Ilia Gruev's timescale for recovery later today, after undergoing extensive scans on the knee injury he picked up at Carrow Road on Tuesday evening. The Bulgarian International managed just 20 minutes at Carrow Road before hobbling off. It couldn't have happened at a worse time, with his double pivot partner (Ampadu) ruled out until January with a similar condition just days before.
Leeds will call upon AO Tanaka and Joe Rothwell to deputise, but it's far from ideal. Beyond that, they have Charlie Crew and possibly Issac Schmidt who has played as a midfielder before. After the Sunderland game, the walking wounded have a two week break (UEFA Nations League) before Sheffield Utd visit Elland Road on the 18th.
Schmidt could return to action at SunderlandFrom the walking wounded, Issac Schmidt is the most likely to return to action tomorrow evening, as Leeds take on early pacesetters Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. The news comes following Daniel Farke's pre match Press Conference, with much of the focus revolved around injuries to key members of his squad. Ethan Ampadu, Manor Solomon, Max Wober, Dan James and Isaac Schmidt have all missed important matches, causing the gaffer selection headaches.
Schmidt, a €4.5m (£3.7m) Summer signing from Swiss outfit St Gallen arrived at Leeds carrying a thigh injury, restricting him to just 8 minutes of game time so far. He was bought in as cover and competition for Junior Firpo but has experience in central midfield, as a defensive midfielder or at right-wing back. According to the gaffer...
Like always, after a competitive game a few hits and knocks but no one ruled out for the game. We have a few injured players from the last few weeks. I don’t expect one to come back. “Isaac Schmidt looks a bit better so we will try tomorrow, our last training session before the game. If he comes through, he could be involved but I expect him to be the only one who could return back.
Leeds trio walking suspension tightropeWilfred Gnonto, Joe Rodon and Jayden Bogle are already walking a suspension tightrope having already been booked three time this season, over their opening eight games. Four players (Amps, Gruev, Firpo and Struijk) all have two yellows, with James and Rothwell on one-a-piece. Players must avoid five bookings before matchday 19 or face a one match ban, or a two game ban for ten yellows before the 37th game. Any player who receives 15 yellow cards in a Championship season will be benched for 3 games!
